人類登月五十週年，最新精彩報導傑作！
將過往美光燈照不到的人物們帶到讀者面前，以不同角度重溫這段重要歷史。
當1961年5月25日這一天，美國屆時的總統甘迺迪，對國會以及全體國民宣佈──在1970年之前，美國將踏上月球的表面。聽聞這個大消息，最震驚甚或傻眼的，莫過於NASA的工程師們，畢竟在這一天，美國只有合計15分鐘的太空飛行經驗，而且只有之中的5分中是位在大氣層之外！更不用說蘇聯那時的太空技術遠先進於美國，蘇聯的太空狗狗們的飛行經驗都比美國太空人更老練。
為了來自總統，這個近乎天馬行空的命令──NASA的工程師必需突破無數困難，將從未想像過的事，步步轉化為能夠實際的計畫：究竟要如何打造一座夠強大的火箭才能飛抵月球、怎麼做出一台足夠精巧的電腦才能安裝在太空艙上、太空人又要怎麼進食與進行生活的大小事？而他們只有九年的時間可以把所有的問題都解開。
《One Giant Leap》正是把這些幕後功臣的故事，帶到你我眼前。走入MIT的研究室，認識電腦領域傳奇的開創者Charles Draper，打造出阿波羅11號上的電腦系統；又或是太空艙的打造現場與工廠，有數以百計的女性編織出所需要的複雜銅線，把過往未曾被細數的精彩故事寫下。提醒著我們，人類偉大成就的背後，有著同等多無名小卒的創意與心血，一同將幻想妄言變成真實，而在50週年的慶祝時刻，他們的付出同樣值得眾人致敬懷念。（文/博客來編譯）
President John F. Kennedy astonished the world on May 25, 1961, when he announced to Congress that the United States would land a man on the Moon by 1970. No group was more surprised than the engineers at NASA. On the day of the historic speech, America had a total of fifteen minutes of spaceflight experience—with just five of those minutes outside the atmosphere. In fact, Soviet canines had more spaceflight experience than US astronauts.
To fulfill President Kennedy’s mandate, NASA engineers had to invent space travel. When Kennedy announced his goal, no one knew how to navigate to the Moon. No one knew how to build a rocket big enough to fly to the Moon. No one knew how to build a computer small enough to put on that rocket. No one knew how to feed astronauts in space, and no one knew how astronauts would even use the bathroom in space. And NASA had just nine years to make it happen.
In One Giant Leap, Charles Fishman introduces readers to the men and women tasked with putting a man on the moon. From the halls of MIT, where the eccentric and legendary digital pioneer Charles Draper created the two computers aboard Apollo 11, to the factories where hundreds of women weaved computer programs with copper wire, Fishman captures the sweeping achievement of these ordinary Americans. This is the captivating story of men and women charged with changing the world as we know it—their leaders, their triumphs, their near disasters, all of which led to arguably the greatest success story of the twentieth century.
將過往美光燈照不到的人物們帶到讀者面前，以不同角度重溫這段重要歷史。
當1961年5月25日這一天，美國屆時的總統甘迺迪，對國會以及全體國民宣佈──在1970年之前，美國將踏上月球的表面。聽聞這個大消息，最震驚甚或傻眼的，莫過於NASA的工程師們，畢竟在這一天，美國只有合計15分鐘的太空飛行經驗，而且只有之中的5分中是位在大氣層之外！更不用說蘇聯那時的太空技術遠先進於美國，蘇聯的太空狗狗們的飛行經驗都比美國太空人更老練。
為了來自總統，這個近乎天馬行空的命令──NASA的工程師必需突破無數困難，將從未想像過的事，步步轉化為能夠實際的計畫：究竟要如何打造一座夠強大的火箭才能飛抵月球、怎麼做出一台足夠精巧的電腦才能安裝在太空艙上、太空人又要怎麼進食與進行生活的大小事？而他們只有九年的時間可以把所有的問題都解開。
《One Giant Leap》正是把這些幕後功臣的故事，帶到你我眼前。走入MIT的研究室，認識電腦領域傳奇的開創者Charles Draper，打造出阿波羅11號上的電腦系統；又或是太空艙的打造現場與工廠，有數以百計的女性編織出所需要的複雜銅線，把過往未曾被細數的精彩故事寫下。提醒著我們，人類偉大成就的背後，有著同等多無名小卒的創意與心血，一同將幻想妄言變成真實，而在50週年的慶祝時刻，他們的付出同樣值得眾人致敬懷念。（文/博客來編譯）
President John F. Kennedy astonished the world on May 25, 1961, when he announced to Congress that the United States would land a man on the Moon by 1970. No group was more surprised than the engineers at NASA. On the day of the historic speech, America had a total of fifteen minutes of spaceflight experience—with just five of those minutes outside the atmosphere. In fact, Soviet canines had more spaceflight experience than US astronauts.
To fulfill President Kennedy’s mandate, NASA engineers had to invent space travel. When Kennedy announced his goal, no one knew how to navigate to the Moon. No one knew how to build a rocket big enough to fly to the Moon. No one knew how to build a computer small enough to put on that rocket. No one knew how to feed astronauts in space, and no one knew how astronauts would even use the bathroom in space. And NASA had just nine years to make it happen.
In One Giant Leap, Charles Fishman introduces readers to the men and women tasked with putting a man on the moon. From the halls of MIT, where the eccentric and legendary digital pioneer Charles Draper created the two computers aboard Apollo 11, to the factories where hundreds of women weaved computer programs with copper wire, Fishman captures the sweeping achievement of these ordinary Americans. This is the captivating story of men and women charged with changing the world as we know it—their leaders, their triumphs, their near disasters, all of which led to arguably the greatest success story of the twentieth century.